Pages

On the shelf: Tracks by Robyn Davidson

After submitting the third draft of my dissertation
proposal, I decided to give myself the freedom of reading a non-academic book.
I chose Tracks by Robyn Davidson.
Davidson wrote the memoir about her 1,700 miles journey through the Australian
desert with four camels and a dog. She recounts her time learning to train and
care for camels and talks extensively about the mental battle she fought with herself
during the nine months she trekked alone through tough terrain.

Courtesy: dailymail.co.uk

Davidson completed the adventure in 1977 but the book was
re-released after the story was made into a movie in 2013.

Courtesy: dailymail.co.uk

The story is interesting and poignant in its presentation of
courage. At the end of the book, Davidson writes that she is shocked that so
many people were in awe of her feat. She claimed that she had no more brave
bones in her body than the next person but shared:

The
two important things that I did learn were that you are as powerful and strong
as you allow yourself to be, and that the most difficult part of any endeavor
is taking the first step, making the first decision.

Courtesy: abc.net.au

Another book in this genre of women doing extraordinary
things is Cheryl Strayed’s Wild. She
treks along the Pacific Trail alone braving the weather and harsh conditional.
I’ve always wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail but I think it is so
commercialized now that it would be hard to experience isolation and peace.
There are likely few places left on earth where we can find the same conditions
that Davison lived in.

When
you walk on, sleep on, stand on, defecate on, wallow in, get covered in, and
eat the dirt around you, and when there is no one to remind you what society’s
rules are, and nothing to keep you linked to that society, you had better be
prepared for some startling changes.

Davidson has also written other books including: Traveling
Light and Dessert Places.